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Saturday, 22 April 2017

10 DARCY QUESTIONS FOR VICTORIA KINCAID

DARCY’S
HONOR

Victoria Kincaid has just
released her new Pride and Prejudice Variation, Darcy’s
Honor. Her imaginative retelling
sees Elizabeth Bennet relieved when the difficult Mr. Darcy leaves the area
after the Netherfield Ball. But she soon runs afoul of Lord Henry, a Viscount
who thinks to force her into marrying him by slandering her name and ruining
her reputation. An outcast in Meryton,
and even within her own family, Elizabeth has nobody to turn to and nowhere to
go.

Darcy successfully
resisted Elizabeth’s charms during his visit to Hertfordshire, but when he
learns of her imminent ruin, he decides he must propose to save her from
disaster. However, Elizabeth is
reluctant to tarnish Darcy’s name by association…and the viscount still wants
her…

Can Darcy save his honor
while also marrying the woman he loves?

10
DARCY QUESTIONS FOR VICTORIA KINCAID

I have this set of 10 Darcy Questions in my archive that I
find great fun to ask. I thought that after writing several books featuring Mr
Darcy as the protagonist, Victoria, you must have got to know him very well. Would you mind answering a few
questions about our beloved Fitzwilliam? It’s a quick “either …or
…” game.

Not at all. That must be fun.

Thank you, Victoria.
Let's start, then. To you Mr Darcy is …

1. Proud or prejudiced?

Both. The first few
times I read the book, I thought Darcy was proud and Elizabeth was prejudiced
(against Darcy), but I’ve come to realize that they both exhibit pride and
prejudice.

2. Conceited or cautious?

Both, but probably more conceited than cautious.

3. Brooding and moody or shy and
reserved?

I’m going to drive you crazy and say both again. 😊 I think he’s very shy in a world that didn’t
allow men of his station to be shy. So
that can come across as moody, reserved, or even rude. Which isn’t to say there
aren’t times when he isn’t downright rude.

4. In love at first sight but
fighting his own feelings or immediately attracted by Elizabeth but slowly
falling for her after discovering her inner qualities?

I think he’s falls for her gradually, but maybe not so
slowly. I think he’s pretty smitten by
the time of the Netherfield ball.

5. Bothered by the Bennets’
improprieties or worried about his aunt’s reaction?

Definitely both. And
worried about everyone’s reactions
(his family as a whole as well as society at large).

6. Sexy and attractive or wealthy and
a good match?

All of the above! That’s what makes him so appealing. Although I think his #1 appealing
characteristic is his willingness to change for the sake of the woman he loves
(sigh).

7. Better to have as a husband or
better to have as a brother?

Well, obviously my feelings for Darcy aren’t brotherly. 😊 P&P makes it clear that he’s very good at
caring for the people close to him, so I think he makes a good brother,
although he might be a little overprotective.

8. The hero who ruins many a woman’s expectations of men or
the one who helps many a woman to escape disappointing everyday lives?

I think P&P, like all good fiction, helps everyone (not
just women) imagine a life outside their own reality and escape their own
problems for a while. In some ways,
Austen makes Darcy similar to a Prince Charming kind of character – handsome,
wealthy, powerful—who comes in and sweeps the heroine out of tenuous economic
situation into happily ever after. But Austen
humanizes him in a way that you don’t see with many Prince Charming type
characters. He’s so deeply flawed that
Elizabeth initially can’t imagine being married to him, and he has to change in
order to be worthy of her love. That
makes him so much more interesting than your average Prince Charming.

9. The best Austen hero of all or awesome but second to
……………………. ?

Best of all, but I love Wentworth too.

10. More like Colin Firth or
Matthew MacFadyen?

Oh, definiely Colin Firth.
I have trouble picturing anyone else.

READ AN EXCERPT

She clambered awkwardly down from the
saddle and stood on unsteady legs as she smoothed her skirts around her ankles.
Her whole body shook. “Are you unharmed, Miss Bennet?” he inquired, running his
eyes up and down her form.

She gave a shaky laugh, and Darcy could not
help admiring her fortitude. Many women of his acquaintance would have swooned
after such an episode. “Yes, I thank you for your timely intervention. I
believe the only damage is to my dignity. I assure you that I do not
customarily ride a horse like a sack of potatoes.”

Darcy blinked. “Undignified” was not one of
the adjectives he had thought to apply to the sight of Elizabeth on the back of
a horse, particularly not with so much leg revealed. “Of course. I would
imagine you are a far superior rider with a proper sidesaddle.”

She brushed errant strands of hair from her
face. “You are very kind to make such an assumption given the display you just
witnessed.”

How odd to be discussing Elizabeth’s
horsemanship when something was so obviously wrong. How had she acquired a
horse, and why was she riding at such speeds?

“On the contrary,” Darcy returned. “It
requires great skill to remain atop a strange horse under such circumstances. I
am quite impressed.”

She regarded him with narrowed eyes for a moment,
as if assessing his sincerity. Finally, she said, “I thank you for the
compliment, sir.”

Would she think him impertinent to inquire
about the circumstances of her ride? But surely the unusual situation cried out
for some kind of explanation. “You were in quite a hurry. Is there an
emergency?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder at the road
behind her. “No, I do not believe so.”

This ambiguous response left Darcy at
something of a loss. Why had she ridden so fast if there was no urgency? And
why did she watch the road so intently? Finally, he settled on a different but
not unrelated line of inquiry. “I did note that you departed the church on
foot.”

He had meant his words as a light-hearted
jest but cursed himself for a fool when he saw the blood drain from Elizabeth’s
face. He cleared his throat. “Does, er, the Longbourn stable boast such a
creature?” he asked, knowing full well she had not had sufficient time to reach
her home.

“No…” Her face was now quite red.
“I…er…that is, I—”

“Borrowed the mount?” he inquired as though
a simple explanation would work. He reached out and took her gloved hand in
his. “Please be assured, Miss Bennet, I only wish to help.”

Her eyes widened as if she had not expected
such an offer from him, although he could not imagine why. But he was then
rewarded with a small smile and a slight loosening of the tension in her
shoulders. She let out a long breath. “No, indeed. The horse actually is the
property of”—she cleared her throat —“Viscount Billington.”

“Billington!” Darcy echoed in surprise,
releasing her hand. That was the last name he expected to hear. “He lent you
his mount?” Was Darcy wrong in assuming she wished to have no connection with
the man?

“He did not precisely loan it to me—” She
covered her mouth with her hand. “Although I am quite concerned he could label
me a horse thief. I must be sure the beast is returned to him.” She pressed her
lips together into a white line. “Perhaps I should not have— Oh, what a
terrible tangle I have created!”

Suddenly, the various oddly shaped pieces
of the puzzle fell into place. He took a step closer to her. “Billington
accosted you on the road?” His voice was a low growl.

She nodded miserably but lifted her chin
and met his gaze. “The horse was the only way to escape.”

To Darcy’s own surprise, he began to laugh.
“Serves him right! You should keep the animal.”

Elizabeth’s eyes were wide, and her mouth
hung open. Darcy could only imagine the expression on Lord Henry’s face when
Elizabeth jumped into his horse’s saddle. Darcy laughed even harder.

Thinking of the vicar sobered Darcy, and he
shook his head. “Miss Bennet, to be clear, I believe you should be commended. A
lady should always have a horse at hand when encountering such a man,” Darcy
said.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR

Victoria Kincaid is the author of eight Pride and Prejudice
variations. When she’s not writing,
she’s doing her day job or driving kids to school, music lessons, and various
other activities. Her husband is very
lucky that Mr. Darcy isn’t real.

Love the premise of this book and look forward to reading. I enjoyed both the excerpt and interview and found myself agreeing with much that was said particularly that last bit about Mr. Firth. He will always be who I picture whenever I read P&P.

Great Q and A session, Maria and Victoria. Like everyone above, I find myself agreeing with just about all of Victoria's answers, too. Love the pictures used to illustrate the post!

I've already had the pleasure of reading this book, and I do mean a lot of pleasure. It's more serious in tone than Chaos Comes to Longbourn or A Very Darcy Christmas, but, as the excerpt shows, still plenty of humour too. Elizabeth's comment "Did you, perhaps, help Mr. Lehigh finish off the communion wine?" made me chuckle, as did Darcy's “Miss Bennet, to be clear, I believe you should be commended. A lady should always have a horse at hand when encountering such a man,”

Lord Henry, Viscount Billington, is a character everyone's going to have a lot of fun hating but he gets his comeuppance in a rather unusual and entertaining manner. Darcy is endearingly persistent in his attempts to save Elizabeth's honour and she's equally persistent in avoiding them. Definitely one for everybody's Wish Lists.

Great to read the interview. The questions were great ones.the pictures seemed very time appropriate which added to the interest. And the excerpt definitely made me want to keep reading!sonja dot nishimoto at gmail dot com

I find Darcy a very intriguing character but I just LOVE Captain Wentworth because he has to basically build himself from nothing to win the prize. Plus Darcy can't write such a swoon worthy letter like Wentworth can. I'll let you keep Darcy and I'll keep Wentworth, deal? ;-)

Congratulations on the new release and thank you for the great giveaway and including the option for a paperback book. This book looks like a lot of fun and I really enjoyed reading the sample again since it is a really fun scene and shows some of Darcy's fun side. I hope to be able to read this book soon.

About Me

I've been an English teacher for a long time now and a blogger for more than 5 years. I love classic literature, reading, theatre, period drama, art and that is what I usually write about on FLY HIGH and My Jane Austen Book Club. I'd love to hear from you! Leave your comments to my posts or send e-mail messages to learnonline.mgs@gmail.com.